Now Microsoft Wants Its Laptop Back — Microsoft and AMD sent out a pile of very expensive (yet trashy looking) laptops to a number of bloggers over the past week. We were told we could keep them - now after a day of minor outrage by some people they are emailing us back with the following request that we not keep them after all!

The Microsoft "Scandal" — So we received one of the Microsoft computers the other day that everyone's been screaming about. I don't think this is much of a scandal, because Microsoft is being pretty open about exactly what they are doing - giving away computers loaded with Vista to bloggers …

How Much Oomph Does Vista Really Need? … System requirements are a hot topic, because so many people are asking. I recently spoke to solution providers about what they're hearing from customers about Windows Vista. Top concern: Hardware requirements. — Microsoft hasn't exactly stormed out the information, either.

Apple 'falsified' files on Jobs' options — Steve Jobs, chief executive of Apple Computer, was handed 7.5m stock options in 2001 without the required authorisation from the company's board of directors, according to people familiar with the matter. — Records that purported to show …

Google "disappears" sex blogs? UPDATED — Xeni Jardin: UPDATE (Dec. 28): Readers have been writing in to say that whatever happened here, the issue appears to be resolved for now — at least for the specific sex blogs cited in this post. I haven't verified this, but if it's true, great.

ProfileLinker Takes Meebo Approach to Social Networking — There are clearly too many social networks, and if you belong to one you likely belong to many. Boston based (soon to be relocated to San Francisco) ProfileLinker's aim is to help you stay organized across those networks.

Full disclosure... I am sitting in an airport in Houston. I see a lot of people are wondering who is paying for the trip. I wasn't supposed to announce what I was doing until I got to New Orleans, but since news schedules have been moved up (John Edwards announced he's running for President today) I'm sure the campaign won't mind.

101 Biggest Stories in Search 2006 — The first thing that you will do when you read this list is say "This list isn't just about search!" And you will be right. 2006 was a year that saw the definition of search expand. Search to me has become an all-encompassing word. Search is information.

The Mac OS X font managers review — Introduction — Well it was a long time coming, but I've been through the trenches and come up, sucking chest wound and all, with the Ars review of font management programs. I've also succeeded in not completely losing my mind while the developers updated the apps …

PayPerPost In The News Again — PayPerPost, the controversial startup that pays bloggers to write about advertisers' products, will be in the news again tomorrow. They will be announcing the acquisition of blogging tools and services company Performancing (see our earlier coverage of Performancing).

Mashable's 2007 Predictions — It's now only a few days until 2007, and a good time for the yearly prediction posts to start rolling out - including one from Mashable. To add a more interesting spin, we'll throw in a mini-game of blog tag - a few people "tagged" at the end of this post …

Games Make You Drive Like an Idiot — FoxTrot Cuts Back to Weekly Reaffirms Love of WoW — FoxTrot cartoonist and World of Warcraft enthusiast Bill Amend recently announced that he would be cutting back from producing his excellent newspaper strip on a daily basis to a weekly one.

Apple and Nintendo Should Play Together — Hope the festive season has rewarded your hard labors this past year with lots of cool toys. In the Howard house, Santa left a Nintendo Wii, which was quite appreciated and ha nearly been worn out already. Well, it's users have, says I flexing aching muscles.

Google to invest in Chinese video Web site — Google Inc., owner of the world's most-used Internet search engine, will invest in Shenzhen Xunlei Network Technology Ltd., a Chinese Web site that helps users download videos from the Internet. — The investment will probably be disclosed next month …